Every Tuesday night, there's a sheepshead game at my neighbor's house.
I've been going as often as I can for almost three years now.
We start at 6:30 and play for a couple of hours.
At 7:30 sharp, we always have pie.
When the clock chimes, we wrap up the hand we are playing and proclaim, "Pie Time!"
It's not just any old pie, either.
We have homemade pie. Lovingly made from scratch by two of my neighbor's family members.
Sometimes it's rhubarb pie, other times apple or cherry. Once in awhile it's hickory nut or pecan.
And always it's delicious.
Depending on the day, we can have between 4 and 8 people playing. Which means it can be a different variation of the game every week.
Sheepshead is complicated!
This sometimes throws me off - I get the rules mixed up.
I forget who the partners are or how much I owe when I lose. And sometimes I get overly excited when I have a good hand and lead out trump when I'm not supposed to.
This crowd is gracious about it though - we laugh and they guide me through it.
Everyone at the table is older than me, most by at least a couple of decades, and Leo (my neighbor) is like a surrogate grandfather to me.
They've welcomed me into their family and I'm grateful for this sweet group of people.
Cards and pie night is one of my favorite nights of the week.
It helps me remember that life can still be simple, in spite of the chaos.
It reminds me of the goodness of people and how important it is to surround ourselves with those who build us up and smile when we screw up.
It genuinely makes me feel loved.
We play for dimes, so it's not high stakes.
I rarely leave Leo's house more than a dollar ahead or behind. Except for that one night where I won $6 - we still talk about that two years later!
But the cost of that pie and the value of the friendship I've gained is way more than I've ever lost at that table.
I think we all need a cards and pie night in our week.
We can get so caught up defining "success" in life by the big things we do - our career, our homes, those flashy things we own - that we forget that life is really made up of all of the ordinary moments spent with people we love.
Look back on your week today. Take a moment to pause and reflect.
How many little moments did you have that made you smile?
Add them up.
If I do my math right, I've spent 240 hours and eaten roughly 120 pieces of pie at that table at Leo's house.
That translates to 10 full days and 15 whole pies since I started playing cards with them.
And more smiles and laughs than I could even begin to count.
I wouldn't trade those Tuesday nights for any other "big" things in my life.
Wonder what kind of pie we'll have this week?
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